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3 Jul 2017

Parents Angry Over Torture Of 11-Year-Old Pupil At Command School

Barely nine months into his stay at the Command Secondary School,
Ibadan, Oyo State, an 11-year-old pupil, Israel Dada, is down with
illness after alleged serial torture in the hands of senior pupils of
the school.

The Junior Secondary School 1 pupil and his fellow pupils were said to
have been subjected to a series torture by the senior pupils.

It was learnt that each time they were punished by the senior pupils,
they would be threatened with stiffer punishment if the torture was
reported to the school authorities and their parents.
PUNCH Metro gathered that matter came to a head on Friday, June 23, when
Israel’s father was called on the telephone to come and pick his ailing
son.

Hitherto chubby Israel was said to have grown lean and had to be rushed
to a hospital, where he was admitted and given medication.

Israel explained that three days before he fell sick, one Stephen, his
hostel mate, who was in SSS I, had complained about a missing wristwatch
and summoned all the junior pupils, including him.

The victim said Stephen flogged them when he could not find the wristwatch on time.

He said,

“Senior Stephen flogged us seriously and vowed to beat us more if we
reported to the school management. He later found the wristwatch. Apart
from him, other senior pupils, usually beat us. At times they would
punish us because we didn’t greet them.”

The father, Olushola Dada, said apart from the illness, he had observed
that his son was depressed, but he tried in vain to elicit what was
wrong with him until he returned from the hospital on Saturday.

He said,

“I learnt that senior pupils usually bully the junior ones in the
school, but I was not worried because my son never told me. That Friday,
the school called, saying my son was ill and was not responding to
treatment. I was asked to come and pick him.“I took him to our family
hospital. He was given medication. When he was admitted to the school in
October, he was plump; I was worried about what could have made him to
lose weight so fast.

“The following day, he removed his clothes and was going to take a bath
when his mother saw scars on his back. He was beaten up as if he was a
thief. After pestering him, he said it was senior pupils that usually
beat him and other junior pupils. He specifically mentioned Stephen. How
will a pupil learn in this kind of situation? Is it a crime for pupils
to be in a boarding school?”

Israel’s mother, Olasunkanmi Dada, said she was furious when she saw the
scars, adding that the matter had been formally reported to the school
management.

The Vice Principal of the school, Mr. James Olatunde, who confirmed the
torture, said Stephen had been punished and sent to a ‘guardroom’ to
serve as a deterrent to other senior pupils.

He said,

“We are aware of the incident. The pupil is already in the ‘guardroom’
and by Monday (today), he is going home on suspension. He had been given
some strokes of the cane on the assembly ground so that others will
learn.“We are appealing to the parents that such a thing would not
happen again. We have counselled all the senior pupils and told them to
take the junior pupils as their brothers. If you see the way soldiers
punish these senior pupils, you will pity them. Despite this, we still
have some who behave badly. We are going to stop such behaviour.”